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The same generosity that led Paul Dragan to help those in need drew hundreds to a community barbecue Wednesday in support of the Yaletown bike store owner, who remains in hospital recovering from last week’s daylight shooting.

Dragan, 52, was shot June 10 near his Reckless Bikes shop on Davie Street by a man who then exchanged gunfire with police officers before fleeing on a bicycle, in an incident that shocked the neighbourhood. The man was arrested near Science World.

Over the past 25 years, Dragan built an inclusive culture at the business, often hiring anyone who was handy with a wrench and had a strong work ethic during the store’s busy summer months, according to store manager Ryan Schmidt.

“We often had staff members that were hard up, had whatever issues in their lives, and he reached out and said ‘Hey how can I help you?’ ” Schmidt said outside the Davie Street store. “Often it was giving them employment. If he had the ability to help them find a place to live, he would do so.”

Dragan — “a businessman at heart” — was put on speaker phone by his wife Erika earlier Wednesday so he could participate in a staff meeting, Schmidt said.

“He said, ‘Don’t let everything that’s going on interfere with serving the customer and with making people happy and keeping the Reckless name and Reckless alive,’ ” Schmidt said. “He said he’ll be back, he’s looking forward to getting back in the shop, obviously he knows that he needs to recover, and that’s the most important part for him.”

“I’ve worked at several other bike stores, I have also done sales jobs, I have an MBA, I have done lots of different things — but I keep getting drawn back to this bike store,” Schmidt said. “A lot of it is because Paul Dragan, a lot of it is because of the customers, but the biggest part of it is the culture, which is driven by Paul and the family.”

Nearby, as friends and neighbours still bewildered by the daylight shooting mingled at the Roundhouse Community Centre and ate free hamburgers, Dragan’s 12-year-old son Max Dragan was thanking Dr. Clifford Chase, who happened to be nearby, for helping save his father’s life.

“I think there was a reason he was there at the right time, I think God put him there,” Dragan said of Chase, who worked to stem Dragan’s bleeding before paramedics arrived. Dragan’s family is urging people to donate blood in his honour.

Dragan has a “very, very strong” will to live and Max Dragan joked he first recognized his father was starting to recover when he asked his son if he was back working at the family bike store.

Part-time artist Leslie Benisz, who manned the card-signing tent at the event, said Dragan “literally lit the spark” that has seen him dedicate hours of his life to volunteering.

Benisz was an autistic teen when he met Dragan in 1989, and the affable athlete encouraged Benisz — then in high school — to volunteer at a local triathlon.

“I had never done that before, it was so much fun and I got a free T-shirt,” Benisz said. “At one time I had done so much volunteer work — I would see Paul at events and he would tell me about other events — I had over 400 T-shirts from volunteering.”

Chief Jim Chu and some of the Vancouver Police Department’s top brass had a strong presence at the barbecue, meeting with Dragan’s family and reassuring neighbours that they shouldn’t be concerned with public safety after last week’s attack and the ensuing gunfight between officers and the suspect.

Chu pointed toward new outreach teams, funded by the province, which feature plainclothes officers teaming up with mental health professionals to help a select group of troubled residents deal with issues before they may pose a danger to public safety.

Meanwhile, Gerald Battersby, the 61-year-old man facing six attempted murder charges, had a Wednesday court appearance delayed again to next Monday because he is still recuperating from his injuries.

Science World says a portion of the seawall outside its facility is still off-limits to the public as crews work to repair a water exhibit damaged in last week’s incident.

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Hundreds pay tribute to shooting victim at Yaletown community barbecue

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